So, previously I've analyzed what I believe the best years for gaming are in my lifetime. As we know, I generally believe that the tail end of gen 6 to about half way through gen 8 are the best in my lifetime, with gaming declining somewhat after 2016. The trend is most acute in the 2020s. However, let's face it, I havent played all of the games I would want to play of the 2020s, so I'm going to go through and look more objectively, not only considering games I've played, but also games I want to play. This should allow me to overcome any anti recency bias that comes from me not playing games that are currently expensive that I might touch in the future. I'll start with 2020 and go on from there. As I said, iconic or heavily played games are 2 points, other games are 1. Games I havent touched are probably gonna be half what they otherwise would be.
2020
Doom Eternal- 2
Cyberpunk 2077- 2
Call of Duty Warzone- 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War- 1
Fall guys- 1
Valorant- 1
Genshin impact- 1
Resident evil 3 (haven't played)- 0.5
The Last of Us Part 2- (haven't played)- 0.5
Total- 10
Eh, it's still not an amazing year, but it's better than the "5" I originally gave it. It had a few more releases I liked than I would have otherwise though. A lot of them are relatively forgettable though. Like valorant, fall guys, and genshin impact, yeah, i played them, yeah, they're okay, but meh, I could have easily just not included them.
Still, at 10 points, it goes from D tier in my original review to B tier. It's okay.
2021
Halo Infinite- 2
Battlefield 2042- 2
Far Cry 6- 2
Call of Duty Vanguard- 1
Deathloop- 1
Chivalry 2- 1
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (haven't played)- 1
Super Mario 3D World & Bowser's Fury (haven't played)- 1
Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart (haven't played)- 0.5
Total- 11.5 (12)
This bumps it up from C tier to B tier too. Probably my favorite year of the decade so far if I had to be honest, with heavy hitters like Halo infinite, BF2042, and FC6 still being somewhat relevant for me.
2022
Call of Duty Modern Warfare II- 1
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands- 1
Callisto Protocol- 1
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (haven't played)- 1
Sonic Frontiers (haven't played)- 0.5
Overwatch 2 (do I even count this?, it's just OW1 again)- 0
God of War PC (haven't played)- 0.5
Total- 5
Yikes, this hasn't really improved much. 5 still puts it very much in D Tier as a bad year for me. It's not that there aren't games out there that are good, but there aren't any games out there that I would actually wanna play that are good. I'm just underwhelmed with this year in general. Even if 2020 and 2021 are kind of renovated to being okay years from being sub par ones, there's no beating around the bush that 2022 sucks for me.
2023
Starfield- 2
Call of Duty Modern Warfare III- 2
Battlebit Remastered- 2
Resident Evil 4 Remake- 1
Dead Island 2- 1
Counter Strike 2 (do I even count this?)- 0
Super Mario Wonder (haven't played)- 1
Atomic Heart (haven't played)- 0.5
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (haven't played)- 0.5
Total- 10
Like 2020 and 2021, this year does get somewhat renovated. It's B Tier. It's okay. But even expanding the titles to my wish list, I'm kinda sorta meh on it. Honestly, of new games, I just find myself playing a handful of games and sticking to those and don't have a ton of interest in a lot of new titles.
2024
Delta Force- 2
Black Ops 6- 1
Balatro (haven't played)- 0.5
Helldivers (haven't played)- 0.5
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 (haven't played)- 0.5
Total- 4.5
It has a few titles I've liked and a couple I would like to eventually play. But it's still D tier.
I won't do 2025 fully as I haven't bought anything this year yet, but I will give half credit to possible games I'd like to play and buy at some point:
2025 (projected)
Doom: The Dark Ages- 1
Battlefield 6- 1
The Outer Worlds 2- 1
Splitgate 2- 0.5
GTA 6- 0.5
Mario Kart 9- 0.5
Call of Duty 2025- 0.5
Borderlands 4- 0.5
Sonic Rumble- 0.5
Gears of War: E Day- 0.5
Mafia: The Old Country- 0.5
Total- 7
So, keep in mind, this is speculative. A lot of the titles here might end up being good for me. it's a solid lineup and we might actually get up to like 14 here possibly. The potential is there. As it stands, C tier, but mainly because of its speculative nature. It could end up being the best year of the decade. Keep in mind all of these are half of what they'd be if I played them. I'm guessing 12-13 is realistic, so I'm gonna put this in B tier to be speculative.
What can we conclude?
So the 2020s don't suck as hard as I originally rated them, but they still kinda suck. THe best years are average, the worst ones are among the worst ever. To update my tier list:
S tier- 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2019
A tier- 1993, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2016
B tier- 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025 (speculative)
C tier- 1992, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2018
D tier- 1992, 1995, 2022, 2024
So yeah, 2020s are kinda mid. Better than I originally would have said, but still kinda underwhelming. We're well past the peak of gaming and most years that the 2020s are comparable too are kind of like, the most okay years of gaming ever. If they don't just bomb entirely. We'll see what the future brings, but yeah. That's where we're at.
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